13 incredible rooftops around the world

(CNN) — As cities become more crowded and congested at the street level, refuge can often be found many stories above.

More than 50 rooftops designed by some of the world's most renowned and up-and-coming architects and landscape designers is featured in "Rooftops: Islands in the Sky," Taschen's photography book releasing February 15 in the United States.

The book features forests reaching for the skies, blooming gardens, pools flowing to a building's edge, art installations and outdoor spaces that switch easily from serving lunch to pouring drinks as nighttime hot spots.

"There may be as many ways to design and convert rooftops as there are buildings in modern cities," writes the book's editor Philip Jodidio.

"The attraction of the roof, the high place, is ancient, surely going further back in the human psyche than even the Old and New Testaments or the Qur'an," he goes on. "Simply put, the roof offers a view, a place to contemplate the city, or to escape from its bustle and noise, at least for a time."

Click through the gallery to see the work of Norman Foster, Shigeru Ban, Toyo Ito, Frank Gehry, Ken Smith and more.